Commercial users panel

The discussions of motives and requirements for telerobotics application demonstrated that, in many cases, lack of progress was a result not of limited opportunities but of inadequate mechanisms and resources for promoting opportunities. Support for this conclusion came from Telerobotics, Inc., one of the few companies devoted primarily to telerobot systems. They have produced units for such diverse applications as nuclear fusion research, particle accelerators, cryogenics, firefighting, marine biology/undersea systems and nuclear mobile robotics. Mr. Flatau offered evidence that telerobotics research is only rarely supported by the private sector and that it often presents a difficult market. Questions on the mechanisms contained within the NASA technology transfer process for promoting commercial opportunities were fielded by Ray Gilbert and Tom Walters. A few points deserve emphasis: (1) NASA/industry technology transfer occurs in both directions and NASA recognizes the opportunity to learn a great deal from industry in the fields of automation and robotics; (2) promotion of technology transfer projects takes a demand side approach, with requests to industry for specific problem identification. NASA then proposes possible solutions; and (3) comittment ofmotivated and technically qualified people on each end of a technology transfer is essential

Plenary keynote: Monitoring Safety Critical Infrastructure with Mobile Robots

Reliable Non Destructive Testing (NDT) is vital to the integrity and performance management of capital assets in safety critical industries such as aerospace, transportation, pipelines, petro-chemical processing, and power generation [ ]. The structures that are to be inspected are usually very large and located in remote and hazardous environments. The NDT system has to be deployed by first providing very expensive access, requiring the erection of scaffolding and lengthy preparation before NDT can start. In addition the system must be capable of finding and characterizing component and structural defects to a high probability of detection thereby decreasing the probability of failure. Another priority is to reduce outage time as the cost of loss of production runs into millions. This presentation describes recent developments in mobile wall climbing, swimming and pipe crawling robots that provide the means to perform NDT on difficult to access structures and provide the possibility of carrying out the NDT in-service thus preventing costly outages. In confined and hazardous environments they are the only means to reach a test site and perform the NDT. Our research, funded by the European Commission and Industry, is developing mobile NDT Robots to go inside petro-chemical storage tanks (while full of product) to inspect floors for pitting and corrosion [ ], to climb on the hulls of steel ships to inspect hundreds of kilometres of weld [ ], to inspect mooring chains securing off-shore oil and gas platforms in both air and underwater, to inspect the walls of petro-chemical storage tanks for corrosion and weld integrity, to inspect nozzle welds inside nuclear pressure vessels, to inspect concrete structures such as dams and buildings, to internally inspect buried pipelines that are currently not reachable by intelligent pigs, to climb up off-shore wind turbine towers to inspect the blades[ ], and to climb on aircraft wings and fuselage to detect for cracks and loose rivets

Robotics for nuclear power plants - Challenges and future perspectives

Use of robotics and computerized tools in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) has been identified as a highly recommended practice by IAEA. The key rationale of robotics application has always been to avoid human exposure to hazardous environments and tasks ranging from scrutiny and general maintenance to decontamination and post accidental activities. To execute these activities, robots need to incorporate artificial intelligence, improved sensors capability, enhanced data fusion and compliant human like leg and hand structures for efficient motions. Next generation robotic systems in NPPs are expected to work in full autonomous mode in contrast to the current semi-autonomous scenarios. Far future systems could deploy humanoid robots as well. This paper presents state-of-theart of robotics developed for NPPs, associated challenges and finally comments on future directions

Remote Manipulators in Industry and Space

Many challenging scientific, engineering, and manufacturing tasks in both industry and space can be performed most effectively and efficiently by means of remote-controlled robotic systems We will examine a variety of manipulators in use around the world today. These computer/ operator instructed devices are built to operate in hazardous environments and/or to rapidly perform precise, material handling, repetitive functions reliably for long periods of time

Miniature mobile sensor platforms for condition monitoring of structures

In this paper, a wireless, multisensor inspection system for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of materials is described. The sensor configuration enables two inspection modes-magnetic (flux leakage and eddy current) and noncontact ultrasound. Each is designed to function in a complementary manner, maximizing the potential for detection of both surface and internal defects. Particular emphasis is placed on the generic architecture of a novel, intelligent sensor platform, and its positioning on the structure under test. The sensor units are capable of wireless communication with a remote host computer, which controls manipulation and data interpretation. Results are presented in the form of automatic scans with different NDE sensors in a series of experiments on thin plate structures. To highlight the advantage of utilizing multiple inspection modalities, data fusion approaches are employed to combine data collected by complementary sensor systems. Fusion of data is shown to demonstrate the potential for improved inspection reliability

“Design, Development and Characterization of a Thermal Sensor Brick System for Modular Robotics

This thesis presents the work on thermal imaging sensor brick (TISB) system for modular robotics. The research demonstrates the design, development and characterization of the TISB system. The TISB system is based on the design philosophy of sensor bricks for modular robotics. In under vehicle surveillance for threat detection, which is a target application of this work we have demonstrated the advantages of the TISB system over purely vision-based systems. We have highlighted the advantages of the TISB system as an illumination invariant threat detection system for detecting hidden threat objects in the undercarriage of a car. We have compared the TISB system to the vision sensor brick system and the mirror on a stick. We have also illustrated the operational capability of the system on the SafeBot under vehicle robot to acquire and transmit the data wirelessly. The early designs of the TISB system, the evolution of the designs and the uniformity achieved while maintaining the modularity in building the different sensor bricks; the visual, the thermal and the range sensor brick is presented as part of this work. Each of these sensor brick systems designed and implemented at the Imaging Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) laboratory consist of four major blocks: Sensing and Image Acquisition Block, Pre-Processing and Fusion Block, Communication Block, and Power Block. The Sensing and Image Acquisition Block is to capture images or acquire data. The Pre-Processing and Fusion Block is to work on the acquired images or data. The Communication Block is for transferring data between the sensor brick and the remote host computer. The Power Block is to maintain power supply to the entire brick. The modular sensor bricks are self-sufficient plug and play systems. The SafeBot under vehicle robot designed and implemented at the IRIS laboratory has two tracked platforms one on each side with a payload bay area in the middle. Each of these tracked platforms is a mobility brick based on the same design philosophy as the modular sensor bricks. The robot can carry one brick at a time or even multiple bricks at the same time. The contributions of this thesis are: (1) designing and developing the hardware implementation of the TISB system, (2) designing and developing the software for the TISB system, and (3) characterizing the TISB system, where this characterization of the system is the major contribution of this thesis. The analysis of the thermal sensor brick system provides the user and future designers with sufficient information on parameters to be considered to make the right choice for future modifications, the kind of applications the TISB could handle and the load that the different blocks of the TISB system could manage. Under vehicle surveillance for threat detection, perimeter / area surveillance, scouting, and improvised explosive device (IED) detection using a car-mounted system are some of the applications that have been identified for this system

Clothing robots for rescue operations for radiation protection

Rescue robots are preferred over humans in situations, where human lives can be adversely affected. For instance, in Fukushima nuclear disaster, rescue robots were sent to the irradiated environment of the site to carry out investigations and rescue works. However, rescue robots can also be hurt by the radiations. For instance, electronic components of a rescue robot can malfunction when exposed to radiations, which may hinder rescuing tasks. Therefore, the protection of electronic components in an irradiated environment is the bottleneck problem for such rescue robots to work. The contemporary solution to this problem is to design a specialized rescue robot with a specialized material or coating material to build such robots. Such a solution proved to be ineffective in the Fukushima nuclear disaster management as well as to be costly. This thesis proposes a new concept – namely to wrap a robot with clothes that stop radiations. That is to say, any robot that may certainly not be specifically designed for working in an irradiated environment can clothe itself and then work in an irradiated environment. Feasibility of the concept of clothing a robot along with its technology was investigated in this thesis, and this includes classification of rescue robots in an irradiated environment, development of the architecture of clothes for robots, selection of materials for the clothes for radiation protection. A case study to validate the concept and technology was also conducted. To the best of the author’s knowledge of the available literature, no one in the field of robotics mentioned the concept of clothing robots. The result of the study in this thesis will have a huge benefit to the nuclear energy industry worldwide

Design and Development of an Inspection Robotic System for Indoor Applications

The inspection and monitoring of industrial sites, structures, and infrastructure are important issues for their sustainability and further maintenance. Although these tasks are repetitive and time consuming, and some of these environments may be characterized by dust, humidity, or absence of natural light, classical approach relies on large human activities. Automatic or robotic solutions can be considered useful tools for inspection because they can be effective in exploring dangerous or inaccessible sites, at relatively low-cost and reducing the time required for the relief. The development of a paradigmatic system called Inspection Robotic System (IRS) is the main objective of this paper to demonstrate the feasibility of mechatronic solutions for inspection of industrial sites. The development of such systems will be exploited in the form of a tool kit to be flexible and installed on a mobile system, in order to be used for inspection and monitoring, possibly introducing high efficiency, quality and repetitiveness in the related sector. The interoperability of sensors with wireless communication may form a smart sensors tool kit and a smart sensor network with powerful functions to be effectively used for inspection purposes. Moreover, it may constitute a solution for a broad range of scenarios spacing from industrial sites, brownfields, historical sites or sites dangerous or difficult to access by operators. First experimental tests are reported to show the engineering feasibility of the system and interoperability of the mobile hybrid robot equipped with sensors that allow real-time multiple acquisition and storage

Small business innovation research. Abstracts of completed 1987 phase 1 projects

Non-proprietary summaries of Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects supported by NASA in the 1987 program year are given. Work in the areas of aeronautical propulsion, aerodynamics, acoustics, aircraft systems, materials and structures, teleoperators and robotics, computer sciences, information systems, spacecraft systems, spacecraft power supplies, spacecraft propulsion, bioastronautics, satellite communication, and space processing are covered